It's been 5 MONTHS!

Can you believe it has been five months since I began this insane journey? I never thought I'd actually make it one month, let alone five.  But, here I am, almost half-way through!  It is shocking to me that I have eaten clean for this long.  For five months, I have resisted the things that I thought I couldn't live without.  I have been to parties, gone out to dinner, I've made it through Thanksgiving, and I've made homemade cookies three times, all without slipping off the program!  I have to say, the results of my hard work are great!  Sorry to toot my own horn, but I think they're pretty impressive.  In five months, I have lost 14 pounds.  That is an average of 2.8 pounds per month.  Honestly, I really wasn't expecting this!    

The results are somewhat astounding if you look at where I was a year ago. One year ago TODAY, I gave birth to my sweet, wonderful baby boy.  I weighed 195 pounds.  In one year, I have lost 49 pounds.  Yes, some of that weight can be attributed to my son and pregnancy, but not all of it.  The parts not attributed to him can be directly connected to the over-consumption of macaroni and cheese and iced sugar cookies.  

My sweet boy the day after he was born.

My little boy is growing up too fast!

I will say that my weight loss has me unhappy for one reason... muscle loss. It's been about two months since I've lifted heavy weights.  I know muscle loss accounts for some of my current weight loss.  Don't be surprised if my weight loss stalls or my numbers go back up when I start to lift again come January.  I certainly won't be surprised.  Muscle does weigh more than fat.

I've decided to allow myself a one-day diet "cheat" pass.  I will complete a food log and blog post detailing what I've consumed during this 24-hour period.  I was originally going to give myself a five-day pass, but I don't trust myself for that long.  I am afraid five days of bad eating will push me back into old habits.  I wouldn't be surprised if my "cheat" day is pathetic. The only things I want are Starbucks and a club sandwich.  I am sure I'll think of a few things between now and then.

Stay tuned in January for posts about alcohol and keeping New Year's Resolutions.  I am going to do a better job of posting educational blog posts more often.

Cheers!